


Prelude (I Am So Tired)

by brews



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Gen, Mild Language, What Sofia Was Doing During The Darkest Day: The Longer Than Necessary Oneshot, character study? kinda, implied exes sofia/raihan lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29890929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brews/pseuds/brews
Summary: It's a beautiful day outside. The Rookidees are singing, the Bellossoms are blooming.No, just kidding, they're not- it's not beautiful outside at all. It's the Darkest Day (emphasis on Darkest), and Miss Sofia Powers is out and about playing hero for the Bridge Field Nursery - until her coworker comes out and decides that, ah, yes, now is the perfect time for arguing about teamwork and playing back up for your best friend-slash-ex-boyfriend.Eh, she's gone through worse.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Prelude (I Am So Tired)

**Author's Note:**

> if you're here from twitter, hi :]  
> I don't write creative fiction like. Ever. So don't make fun of me I'll scream
> 
> Okay that aside like. I was watching a funny little comp of the cutscenes in swsh and like. Man. They were lowkey kinda casual about it lmfao Sonia over in Wedgehurst like "yeah no im just checkin stuff out" n Raihan all "ayup, ur goin in there? based" like hello? I didn't change that btw there is zero sense of urgency in this it's funny
> 
> Also. Also. I like to imagine the Wild Area more as the way it's portrayed in TwiWings/Journeys so. Use that however

_May 1st, Evening of the Championship Tournament. Bridge Field Nursery._

Now just how many times was Sofia going to be greeted with a view as terrible as this one? 

Granted, there were no flames in sight this time (yet, for all she knew), but the slow crawl of thick, blood red clouds across the sky, almost black in color, was enough to set her on edge with a sense of rising dread. She pinched herself, and was dismayed at the fact that no, this was not a dream, and was in fact very much a reality far too similar to one in her past that she could not, and at the moment, did not _care_ to remember. 

Still, Sofia’s gaze did not wander from the approaching of the end. There was something of beauty to be seen in the enrapturing sight, and with it came a call from the void, an addicting realization that this could very well be everyone’s last day alive - for those in Galar, at least. 

_Ah_ , she thought. _This is what he meant by the ‘Darkest Day,’ didn’t he?_

Sofia briefly recalled the day that she first arrived in Hammerlocke, and viewed for herself the tapestries in the city’s vault. Oh, how passionate Raihan had sounded when he retold, in all his enthusiastic love for history, the playing out of the apocalyptic event of the past. If she remembered correctly, it had been Sonia’s turn to tell the story this year - for the twins, for her research. Sofia’s sure that Sonia had done a job just as good as Raihan, despite the few complaints he had given. _“I won’t let Miss Clever Clogs get away with it next year, that’s for certain.”_

_Raihan_.

A quick glance back towards the sky told Sofia everything she needed to know about the origin location of the clouds, or at the very least, where they were the most concentrated. 

_Hammerlocke. Raihan._

Would there even _be_ a next year for them? Oh, how she wished to see her dear friend. Knowing he and his Pokémon, they had flown out of Wyndon and to their patron city at the speed of light once Chairman Rose had finished his announcement over Rose Stadium’s screen - maybe even before then. Though all gym leaders were assigned to be somewhat of a pseudo-hero for their respective cities and towns, Raihan had taken his position a little more seriously as the leader of the second largest city, and final obstacle before the champion. Leon may have been the region’s king, the crown on its head, but Raihan was the knight of the region’s heart. 

The smile that crept across Sofia’s face was quickly wiped clean at the tremor that ran across the ground, a solemn reminder of everything at stake and happening in the present. On and on the earth rumbled as though crying out in protest of something, and in perfect time with each quake came bright, shining sounds as the red beams signaling the arrival of a dynamaxed Pokémon broke clean through the air and into the sky. She stood steady, taking note of the locations of as many beams as possible, before finally stumbling from a quake that was closer and stronger than the rest. Very quickly, Sofia noticed that this was not another call from the earth, and instead a signal that disaster was beginning its wake across the region outside of just Hammerlocke. 

Sofia had begun to tire of berserk Pokémon, especially those outside of their normal forms. Mega Evolution, Dynamax, Gigantamax, a whole lot of other -ax’s and moves that she loved, and wept for when used during inopportune moments. _Ah, but the Pokémon are not at fault_. 

Once more, Sofia’s eyes were drawn back to the sky, now entirely coated in a color so deep and rich that it was dreamlike - if only it were so. Now a galaxy of their own, the unnatural clouds occasionally broke with blinding flashes, expanding endlessly and then breaking again, over and over. The earth was the conductor, and everything around it its symphony - cacophony? Whatever it was, it filled her head and made her dizzy, and still she could not tear her eyes away, couldn’t lose herself in her thoughts for an escape. With every flash came a new image, ones she knew to be buried deep in her memories. A white flash, and she saw snow. A yellow one, and a Pokémon she could not name. Green, and eyes that could’ve been her own. Red, and blood flooded her vision. 

Keeling over, Sofia clutched at her head, teeth gritted in response to the phantom pains she felt. Even still, the sky called for her gaze, and she obeyed.

Then, there was a hand on her shoulder, a warm voice calling for her, concerned. She felt the world spin, and suddenly she was grounded again, one of her beloved coworkers before her. _Annette_ , she tried to breath out. At her second attempt, Annette brought Sofia into a careful embrace, and began walking them back towards the nursery. 

Suddenly, as though she had been burnt, Sofia ripped herself from her coworker’s arms, still a bit dizzy, but sure of her next course of action nonetheless. Holding Annette firmly by the shoulders, Sofia looked her in the eyes, and in a steady voice, began her plea.

“Annette, you can feel it as much as I can - you can _see_ it. That- that _thing_ Chairman Rose was talking about? It’s here. The Darkest Day, the Black Night, the End of the World, whatever it is, it’s here, and it’s causing Pokémon to go berserk. Look for yourself, at the lights. There are two Dynamax dens within a mile radius of the nursery. They might not be here yet, but those wild Pokémon, completely out of their mind, are going to come here, and they’re not going to listen to reason. They’re Pokémon. Wild, confused, giant Pokémon - why _should_ they listen, if they would in the first place?”

Annette raised her brow, and Sofia couldn’t stop the chortle that left her at the questioning (and warning) look. 

“Sorry,” she started, “that sounded a little condescending.” Annette nodded in response, and Sofia took that as a cue to get to the point.

“I can’t hide from this. You _know_ my past, you _know_ that I can fight - and, humbly, I can fight damn _good_.” Sofia, as she spoke, stood taller and taller, a gleam coming to her eye. Growing confident, she continued. “I can’t let myself be found inside there after we inevitably get cornered by some rampaging Pokémon when I could be out here, fighting - _preventing_ that from happening at _all_. I just- I _can’t_. It-”

“Goes against ‘everything you are as a person.’ Yeah, I get it, Sofie,” Annette finished, removing Sofia’s hands from her shoulders. She turned as if to leave, then paused, and glanced back to her unmoving coworker. “Are you sure about this?” She asked. Sofia nodded, and Annette, now satisfied (though not worrying any less than before), made her way back inside the nursery.

Shifting in place to face the open field and darkened sky, Sofia squared her shoulders, readying herself to face the storm. She felt her heart in her throat, her aura pulsing in her palms and briefly coloring the gem on her chest a seafoam color before drawing back for its rightful maroon shade to return, and repeating like waves on a shore. The material of her gloves strained and relaxed against the clenching of her fists at her side, skirt flowing with what wind was beginning to pick up and the metronome movement of her legs. She was tense, but sturdy, a pillar in her own right. 

The Luxury Balls on her hip trembled in anticipation, and Sofia’s gloved fingers ran over the minutely different surfaces of each individual ball belonging to her team of long-time aces, her beloved Pokémon that had been by her side for years. In recognizing the small scratches and slightest indents of their respective capsules, Sofia laughed. For the first time in a long time, she found that she felt truly, sincerely, _nervous_. 

Before she could dwell on the fact for too long, it’d finally begun. Releasing themselves in bursts of light, Sofia’s team appeared before her on the same beat she caught the first note of a dynamaxed Pokémon’s cry. 

“That was a Seismitoad!” She called, taking the first steps towards the general direction of the sound, “Cuica, Volk, that means that you two are coming with me.” At their names, Sofia’s Rillaboom and Amped Toxtricity stepped forward and were recalled into their balls, not wasting a single second. 

“The rest of you will stay here,” she instructed, “I’ll try not to stray too far, but even if I do, you remember your Palace training.” Sofia’s hand glided over her Flygon’s neck and, hopping on in one swift movement, she raised a fist and flexed arm to her Pokémon, beaming brightly at them and all the more when they, in their own way, returned the movement with just as much energy. “That’s the spirit!” She praised.

After getting a few feet off of the ground, Sofia looked once more towards her remaining Pokémon. “Powers family,” she called, grin widening. “Let’s be heroes!”

* * *

For all her time spent in Galar, Sofia wasn’t sure that she had ever encountered opponents that...irritating. It wasn’t so much that they were powerful as they were _endless_. At first glance back at the nursery, Sofia hadn’t, even amidst all the unfolding chaos, seen or heard very many dynamaxed Pokémon. It seemed that between her “pit stops” at the nursery to switch out Pokémon as she saw necessary (and congratulating the team that had been rotated to stay and defend a little closer to home base), the numbers were increasing at a pace faster than she’d expected. 

Complaints aside, Sofia found that all was being as well-handled as could be during what was essentially the apocalypse. On top of that, it was a welcome distraction from the ever-darkening sky and distant wails of some unknown Pokémon all the way over in Hammerlocke. She worked better under pressure, sure, but said pressure wasn’t usually the “do or die” sort.

Returning to the present with a heavy sigh, Sofia focused on the task at hand. Spraying a hyper potion onto her Lucario’s palm, she found relief in the fact that, at the moment, the nursery was not in any immediate danger. Stamina they had plenty of, and optimism just as much, but in a situation like the one they were in, no one could blame or be blamed for the rapid depletion of those things. This brief respite between back to back battles was very much welcome.

“Good boy, Luca,” she murmured once she’d finished healing him. “We’ve been doing good, all of us,” she told her team, “but we can’t let our guard down just yet. I have a feeling that the worst is yet to come- oh!”

Cut off and whipped around, Sofia found herself staring into pale, narrowed mauve eyes. 

“Oh. Hi, Grey.” She said weakly, raising a hand in greeting. It was quickly slapped down to the side, Sofia's Pokémon immediately put on edge and crowding around her at the action.

“Stop it. What the hell are you still _doing_ here, Sofia?” 

_Oh, you dick._

“Maaaybe you should’ve started with a ‘ _thank you_ ,’ instead.” Sofia snarled. “You asked what I’m still doing here? How about you ask why there haven’t been any Pokémon near the nursery first.” 

Grey’s brow furrowed, and they opened their mouth to speak, biting back a retort when Sofia pressed forward, poking a finger into their chest.

“What are you even-” _Giratina save their coworkers, why hadn’t they thought to tell them that she was out on her own after they’d finished checking in on the Pokémon._

“You know what? I’m surprised you didn’t hear anything from inside the nursery,” Sofia continued, her lip curling. “We’ve been rushing back and forth taking down any threats to _you_ and the innocent Pokémon inside! A dynamaxed Seismitoad by the lake, a dynamaxed Pangoro at the edge of the field, a dynamaxed Ferrothorn just a few miles away-!” 

Her hands buried themselves in the locks of hair that framed her face, her eyes becoming unfocused, flickering, no longer boring holes into Grey’s face. Her voice, too, was becoming uncontrolled in volume, pitching up with every Pokémon she continued to list off. Plainly put, Sofia was...

_She’s hysterical,_ Grey thought to themself, their initial anger steadily fading.

“Sofia-” They tried once more, hands raising slowly and within her view to her hands.

“Arceus, I think I even heard a- a gigantamaxed _Gyarados_ before it was taken down by another Pokémon I-”

“Sofia.”

“Arceus, _Arceus_ , it was a horrible sound. Pokémon aren’t supposed to make sounds like that, Gyarados isn’t even supposed to Gigantamax in the first place! Just how _bad_ are things at Hammerlocke right now-”

“ _Sofia._ ”

“Grey, it was awful. It was so, so awful, I- their- their _auras_ , Grey...I couldn’t help it, I tuned in, took a quick peek, just- just to _see_ and I-”

“Sofia, you have to calm down.”

“Grey, those Pokémon, they’re hurting, and I don’t know how to _help_ them. Knowing that the only thing I can do is take them down, even just temporarily, it’s not _enough_ ! What Pokémon- what _thing_ is _causing_ all this, why would Chairman Rose go _through_ with something like this for some- for some problem that’ll happen however many thousand years from now-”

“Oh, one thousand years is what the Champ said, and to answer your question honestly, I can’t really say the Chairman was the prime example of morality in the first place. I’m actually not that surprised that he did this.”

Sofia sighed wearily. Grey apologized under their breath.

“How do I help? What can I do? Is- is there even anything I _can_ do to help in the first place? I…”

Finally slowing down, Sofia looked down towards her coworker, hair tousled from all her pulling, and hands limp in Grey’s. Her eyes were lined with the beginning of tears, and her chest hiccuped for air.

“Grey, I...” She warbled quietly, head falling gently onto their shoulder, “ _what good am I for if I can’t help?_ ”

Ignoring the quickening pace of their heartbeat, the shorter party released their hold on Sofia’s wrists in favor of wrapping around her in as comforting of a hug they could. _Yeesh. Talk about a hero complex - and a bad one at that._ They pretended not to notice the deadpan and slightly threatening stares of her Pokémon, particularly the ones given by her Lucario and Gallade. Taking a deep breath, Grey flushed the slightest bit in preparation for what was about to be their first time acting as an emotional helping hand in a long, long time.

“What happened to all that bite from earlier, Miss Sofia?” They teased, trying to find a place to start. “Ah, right, I forgive you, by the way. You’re welcome.”

They delighted in the stuffy groan that left their coworker, a reprieve from the feeling of tears wetting their uniform.

“I also forgive you for implying that I, and the rest of us in the nursery, are basically the dirt beneath your feet.”

At this, Sofia’s head reeled back slightly, a startled _‘Wha?!’_ leaving her lips. “When did I do that- _did_ I do that? I didn’t do that-!” 

She groaned again, and laid her head back down onto Grey’s shoulder. In retaliation for the jab, she returned their hug with a tight squeeze. “Ugh, damn you…keep talking so I can apologize to you properly.”

Grey snorted, albeit with difficulty. “Weren’t you listening? I already forgave you,” they wheezed. “But! Since you insisted, I’ll keep talking about your offense, just so that our Perfect Miss Powers can avoid making the same mistake in the future.” 

_If there even_ is _a future_ , came the solemn thought while they cast a glance up at the dark sky. They prayed to Giratina that Sofia’s eyes were closed, or at the very least, downcast. Blind, even if for a moment, to the crumbling of the world around them. They laughed silently. _Not that something like this would be enough to put out her spirit_ , surely.

Clearing their throat, Grey got to monologuing, projecting their voice in a way they’d never done before (and effectively startling Sofia and her Pokémon).

“ _Miss_ Sofia Powers, you have been accused of…shouldering too much damn responsibility.” They felt the frown on Sofia’s face before they heard it in her voice, a quiet complaint of _‘Is this really the best time?’_ thrown in the air. Still, they pressed on.

“Inadvertently accusing me and everyone inside the nursery for being wastes of space, if your running about to _protect us_ is apparently equal to being worth nothing at all.” They allowed for Sofia to take a step back, and with a tinge of guilt realized that she had been glancing towards the direction of Hammerlocke the entire time. Grey was tired of seeing her with an upset face, and began to regret what was meant to be a light-hearted, eye-opening talk. They hoped that the champion or those rising star twins or the champion’s brother or _whoever_ could hurry up and get to saving the world. If only so that they wouldn’t have to see such a miserable expression on someone usually so sunny.

_Well! I, for one, can’t give up now. I’m almost done, and I’m doing alright. I think?_

“And the worst of these _heinous_ crimes…” they croned, watching as Sofia’s face scrunched. Though the following movement was subtle, Grey realized with worried amusement that she had braced herself.

“You forgot that you’re not alone.” Very quickly, Sofia’s eyes flew open. 

_Giratina, help. That was really cheesy. I’m embarrassed. Where’s Celebi, what’s the prayer to call Celebi. I want to redo that, I demand a chance to redo that,_ Grey lamented silently, coughing into their fist. At the surprised laughter that left Sofia once she’d processed their words, they found that, unfortunately, they could not ignore the flush that had spread across their neck into their cheeks and onto the tips of their ears. _Ugh…_

“Ha! Hahaha! Huh! Thank you, Grey, _but_ this probably isn’t the best time. I do appreciate the effort, really, but I’ll be okay.” One glance at Sofia, with her red-rimmed eyes and mussed up hair was all it took to realize that, no, she probably wasn’t going to be okay. Grey laughed humorlessly. 

“There you go again - Sofia, you don’t have to do these things alone.”

The earth began to rumble once more in the distance, the sound foreboding. They decided to pay it no mind, at least for now.

“Hey, really, now’s not the time. Y’know, with the whole,” Sofia waved a hand above them, “ _thing_ going on.”

_I am so tired._

“You don’t have to _die_ alone, either…” Grey muttered under their breath. Sofia let out a laugh, and looked to the side.

The lightening tension between them quickly became heavy once more at the choked gasp that Sofia let out. When Grey looked towards her, she was no longer facing them, and instead, was angled wholly towards Hammerlocke. Looking towards the giant city as well, Grey felt a cold sweat begin to form on their temple at the smoke that was billowing in the distance. It hadn’t been there a moment before. What happened?

Deeming their talk over, the nursery worker took a breath, and very gently, said: “Go.”

* * *

Did she hear that right? Really? _Honestly_? Go?

Sofia turned towards Grey with the most offended expression she could muster during an apocalypse, and scoffed. For a moment, they really did think they had grown a second head, and threw a quick glance to their sides, ensuring their back was to Sofia as they began to pace in a leisurely circle. Sofia’s Pokémon, who had been watching the entire spectacle, continued to stay out of the way, especially when Luca and Lio, Sofia’s Lucario and Gallade, began to usher the rest of the team a little further back, sensing a hitch in their trainer’s aura.

“Just who do you think I _am_ ,” Sofia growled. She advanced towards Grey, who had sent a smirk down towards the ground, their arms thrown up briefly in an unbelieving (but still infuriatingly smug) manner. “No, Grey, say it again.” 

If they were being honest, they really didn’t want to say it again. Sure, they’d gotten a rise out of teasing Sofia for the entirety of the four years they’d been coworkers, but right now, shadowed by the grim lighting from the dark clouds above, she really looked like she was ready to tear them to pieces.

_Eh, why not. We might die today anyways._

Shrugging, they went for it. “Go.” They replied simply, sending another smirk to the grass beneath them when Sofia gasped. “You’re worried, aren’t you?” They prodded, kicking at a loose stone. Or, what they thought to be a loose stone. _Can the champion please pick up the pace? It’s starting to get kinda hard to see, and I’ve got my_ contacts _in._

Clueless to their thoughts, Sofia bit her lip for a few seconds. She startled when they asked her again. 

“Well? You’re worried about Hammerlocke, about _Raihan_ , so go to him. No one’s stopping you.”

Sofia’s eyes narrowed. _Hypocrite. Tells me that I’m not alone then urges me to leave him to do exactly what I had been doing before. Hmph, they remind me of Tavi._

“If you’re suggesting that I-”

“You won’t be _abandoning_ us, everyone else would agree with me when I tell you that we can handle this.” _‘You aren’t the only trainer here’_ is what was left hanging between them. Feeling that Sofia wasn’t going to respond, they told her resolutely, “You should go.”

One would think that four years would be more than enough time to become familiar with all sorts of aspects of one’s personality, especially if they were a coworker, someone seen on a daily basis. Even despite this, Grey had forgotten the extent to which the Powers Family Stubbornness extended - or Sofia’s, at least.

“I won’t.”

Grey dragged a hand down their face miserably and, in time with another Dynamaxed Pokémon in the distance, groaned. “Sofia, what if-”

Sofia’s eyes hardened. “Raihan doesn’t need my help,” she stated firmly. “He’s got Camilla, Aria, and Sebastian helping him out already. They’re hard-working and efficient, I know they can handle it.” 

Arceus, she was so tired of that stupid smirk Grey kept throwing towards the floor. As if Giratina cared about their tormenting her. If only they knew.

“Fine,” she quipped, “if you’re so unsure, how about we think about the fact that our very own champion is at the scene, too.” Another smirk. “Oh, come _off_ it, Grey! Leon’s the strongest trainer in the world-”

“The world that’s still very much ending right around us. _You_ come off it, Sofia. You heard what the Chairman said. You’re not blind. This… this is an apocalypse. Leon is just one trainer, one champion, best trainer in the world- _whatever_ ,” Grey finished, face terse. 

All this back and forth - what was the point of it? Actually, really, what was the point of _any_ of this. Maybe she really _should_ just run off to Hammerlocke, it’s not like it would make any difference to the outcome of everything. 

“He’s the reigning Monarch, and it’s _called_ the ‘Darkest Day.’” Came Sofia’s tongue in cheek response. Grey scowled, mood worsening by the second. They couldn’t say that they were used to any kind of consistent backtalk from people, much less Sofia, who usually would’ve let it go by then. Maybe it was the weather.

“I don’t have time for your snark, and neither do the people over in Hammerlocke who need your help-”

“- _You_ need my help.”

“Get off your high horse, you were scared of my team for an entire year. Your _boyfriend_ needs your help more-”

“You had them ‘prank’ me at least once every time we shared a shift, don’t you dare use that against me. Also, he’s _not_ my boyfriend - uh, anymore. That was in the past. Like, _way_ in the past.” The two shared a look, Grey disbelieving and Sofia beginning to fluster. She took advantage of another small earthquake to brush it off.

“ _Anyways!_ I’m not leaving. No matter what you say,” Sofia declared, taking her own turn to send a smirk Grey’s way. Their eyes narrowed.

“Sofia Powers, you- mmph!” In the blink of an eye, Sofia had moved before Grey, taking hold of their face in a single hand, squishing their cheeks together and effectively shutting them up. Grey came to a realization at seeing the grin on her face, unwavering even when the loud groans of approaching Pokémon began to make themselves heard once more.

_Tch. She’s finally digested the whole ‘you’re not alone’ talk. I bet she’s getting off to this. Stupid friendship-is-magic, hero complex son of a-_

“I, Sofia Powers, am _staying_.” Releasing her hold on Grey’s face, Sofia gave their cheek one last pat, making sure to have their attention. Her grin, though still broad, was less wild. 

“Raihan will be okay,” she said. “He’s strong. He’s capable. He’s smart. He knows what he wants to do, what he _should_ do, and how to do it. He’s going to be okay. I...I can’t save everyone, and I know I have to accept that.” 

Had it been anyone else speaking, Grey is sure that they would’ve gagged by then, or burst out laughing at the inevitable look of embarrassment that would come over anyone’s face at saying something so cliche. Looking at Sofia up close, though, and seeing the passion with which she spoke, as if she herself believed every word she said, Grey found that they could not scoff at the sincerity in her voice. So they listened.

“I- I know there are people that I can save in Hammerlocke,” Sofia lamented, “I _know_ that, but…” Her eyes, which had with every syllable drifted towards the location of the city, stopped, returned, and zeroed in on Grey, and Grey alone. The intensity of their hue burned, but Grey found that they could not complain, as finally, there was light to be found even during the Darkest Day.

“There are people I can keep helping here. Right now.” She beamed, and the sun rose into the night sky, “I’m not leaving. I’m staying, and I’m fighting, and I am _not_ going down until all these clouds are, uh, _mostly_ gone, and the stars are visible again. Hah, maybe even the sun, if that’s how long I have to be out here.” Grey had heard enough.

Or, actually, maybe they _hadn’t_ heard enough. 

Beneath their feet, the tremors returned tenfold with a force that was desperate and angry for their attention. It shifted the earth below this way and that, tired of being ignored, of going unseen, even if just for a spot in time. Oh, how it clamored. How _they_ clamored. The sky, too, in all its darkness and brilliant flashes decided that it wanted to join the fray as well. The two nursery workers clutched their heads, and Sofia’s Pokémon tensed at the screeching that emerged from the clouds. Though she recovered quickly, Grey continued to shake alongside the earth. 

Nodding to herself, Sofia began guiding Grey towards the nursery, only making it a few steps before they tore themselves from her grasp. “What do you think you’re doing?” They demanded, still wincing from the aftershock of the ear-piercing cry.

Sofia went to speak, and found herself interrupted. “I thought you finally got it through that thick skull of yours that we were in this together, but I guess not. Let me spell it out for you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Grey parroted. “If you’re not leaving, then I’m not leaving either. I’m staying with you, fighting with you. You…” They shook their head, and faced Sofia head on. “You don’t have to go down alone - with my help, you won’t have to go down at all. Let me help you. Even if- even if it’s just this once.”

Stunned into silence, Sofia stared at her coworker silently, fighting the urge to take a peek at their aura and see what it looked like in this moment of incredible vulnerability. She set the temptation aside in favor of analyzing them as best she could, looking for a deciding factor. 

She didn’t have to look long.

From a single glance, Sofia found all that she needed to see and more. Grey was, simply put, as ready as they’d ever be. That sort of determination- it was enough for her.

Turning on her familiar Powers family charm, she sent them one of her more unreserved smiles, hands coming to rest on her hips. Behind her, her team perked up, and behind _them_ , a Pokémon approached. A shadow cast itself over them, and Grey looked up to find another Pokémon. Despite those things, they could not find it in them to be worried. Especially after taking the hand that Sofia had so graciously extended.

“Let’s get to work then, partner!” She chirped, securing their held hands before leading the way calmly towards the rampaging, dynamaxed Drapion scuttling towards them. Grey’s eyes followed the route of the dynamaxed Noivern overhead, and surprised themselves with the beginnings of a smile. Sofia looked back at them, and shared their surprise.

“Yeah,” they told her, “let’s be heroes, partner.”

_Huh. That felt good._

Sofia burst into laughter, and interlaced her fingers with theirs, tugging them closer and lightly jabbing her elbow into their ribs. 

_Hrrk! Okay,_ that _didn’t feel as good. Man, I really gotta learn Celebi’s prayer._

“I like your enthusiasm, Grey! Said like a true hero - and believe me, I know what that sounds like!” She was still laughing as she spoke, and Grey found that the ache in their ribs faded quickly. Hiding the red on their cheeks, they began sliding their fingers over the Premier Balls on their hip, as though deciding which Pokémon to choose. Deciding what to say. Their fingers stopped on a single one, and they grinned. _Yeah, this’ll do._

Looking back up towards Sofia’s expectant smile, they held a Premier Ball to their cheek, index and middle finger crooked so as to imitate bunny ears - Sofia quickly recognized the pose as one she had done as a young trainer, and she began to shake with laughter again, not quite drowned out by the roaring of the dynamaxed Pokémon around them.

“I learned from the best!” 

Then their battle began.

**Author's Note:**

> wait no follow me on twitter @ PDATRlC but with a lowercase L instead of a proper I   
> go look at sofia


End file.
